As Life Turns
by Fashionista7
Summary: Trent realize that he needs Anton Mercer in his life after his parents were killed in a archeological cave in as Trent deals with more things happening to him.  Feel free to review anytime.
1. From Happiness to Tradegy

What To Do

Trent realize that he needs Anton Mercer in his life after his parents were killed in a archeological cave in.

It was a perfect day in the southern California area, the perfect day to hang out with some friends and eleven-year-old Trent Fernandez was more than happy today.

He was playing outside with his best friend, Mario Cruz, in his backyard of a typical white suburban house with a white picket fence in a quiet suburban neighborhood.

He was at his friend's house for the day since his parents were at a archeological cave dig with a friend of their. He was in his favorite white hoodie, blue shorts and white sneakers.

He and Mario was playing until Mario's mother, who was in a pink polo top, blue jeans, nude-color flats and her brunette hair in a slight messy ponytail, caught their attention and said to them,

"Hey, guys! Come inside and eat!"

They ran inside, sat down at the to eat and began to scarf down on freshly baked chocolate chip cookies and ice cold milk.

Mrs. Cruz looked at the mahogany grandfather clock in the living room and it was three o'clock. She walked back into the living room and asked Trent.

"Trent, do you know when your parents are coming to pick you up?"

"Yeah. After they finish with their dig with a friend in Arizona."

She curiously asked with her lean arms being crossed,

"Who's the friend?"

"I can't remember his name, but I know that he is really good friends with them."

"Okay."

Someone knocked on the front door and Mrs. Cruz excused herself and got the front door.

"Hello."

A guy in a black Italian silk suit and black shoes with blonde hair said to her,

"Hello. Is Trent Fernandez here? I'm a friend of his parents."

"Yes, he is here. Please come in." She allows him to come in and to sit on the comfortable beige couch.

"I would like to talk to him, please."

Mrs. Cruz called Trent into the living room and tells Mario to go up to his room for a while. Trent sits on the living room chair.

"Hi. Where's mom and dad?"

"Uh," Anton Mercer struggled to get the words out. "I don't know how to tell you this, but… your parents… are dead."

Trent started to laugh in the terms of denial. "You're kidding, right?"

He shakes his head. "No. There was a cave in and they got killed by the rocks that landed on their heads."

Trent still laughed in denial, which later turned into anger. "No. They're not dead! They're not!"

"Uh…" Mrs. Cruz turned on the television and a headline was in red letters: DEADLY CAVE-IN KILLED TWO PEOPLE, which caught Trent's attention, but not in a good way.

The reporter stated that in Arizona, where Trent's parents and Anton would be at, a cave has collapsed on two adults, during the cave-in, named Mauricio and Isabella Fernandez, which immediately killed them. Mrs. Cruz turns off the television and said with worry,

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry, Trent! Trent?"

They heard a small crash, turned around and saw that Trent collapsed on the hardwood floor.

I'm giving some credit to Aethelgythe in my story


	2. What's Going On

What's Going On?

Trent wakes up with the sound as if he was in a hospital. He sees Anton Mercer, who is now sighing in relief.

"What happened?" His head was hurting him to the end.

"You passed out and cracked your skull open. Just about an inch or two, but the doctor said you'll be fine." "The last thing I could remember was you saying that my parents were killed in a cave-in."

He puts his hand on Trent's shoulder. "That's because they were killed. I'm sorry, Trent."

Tears began to flow and Trent still refused to believe that his own parents were dead. "No, no, no, no, NO! They're not dead! They're not! They can't be dead!"

"Trent…"

"They're not! They're…"

Eventually, he began to breakdown and burst into tears and Anton embraced him as he reach his heart out to him.

"You'll be okay. It's okay."

A nurse come in and Trent wipes away his tears.

"He's suffered from a small head injury, but with some medications, he will be okay. I checked his files and now he doesn't have any other family."

"I'm a friend of the family. I wouldn't mind if he stays with me. Would you mind, Trent?" Anton volunteered.

"Uh…I wouldn't mind."

To be honest, he didn't know what to think anymore. His parents are dead and now he has no one in his family who could take care of him.

"Okay, but I will have to notify child services and you will be his temporarily guardian. You can take him with you after we give him medications." The nurse excuses herself out of the room.

Anton's cell phone rings and excuses himself in the hall to take it.

Trent didn't know how to even take what was happening to him. One minute, he was in full-on happy mode. And now, he just felt depressed, especially with the terms of the death of his parents.

I'm giving some credit to Aethelgythe in my story


	3. Overcoming Tradegy

Overcoming Tragedy

Two weeks have passed and more tragedy struck for Trent. His best friend, Mario Cruz and his family have moved to New Hampshire because of his father's new job there, the funeral and memorial service of his now late parents, and moving in with Anton Mercer as his temporarily guardian.

At the reading of the wills, it states that both of his parents left everything to him, including four million dollars from his late father's part of the will and a million dollars from his late mother's part of the will, and will get the money when he reaches the age of 18.

Trent was living with Mercer at his luxury multi-million dollar Château mansion in Holmby Hills. Since the funeral, he hasn't had any desire to get out of the bedroom that Mercer supplied him with. He left Trent alone in his room as he had work to do.

Trent just cried out his heart into the pillow and couldn't care about anything in the terms of what was happening to him.

Someone knocks on the door and it was Mercer.

"Trent, are you okay?" He nods his head no, rubbing his eyes, which was now red after crying for who knows how long. He walks over to his side and sits on his king-size canopy bed and sat on the bed next to him.

"Trent, it's not good to feel this depressed."

Trent kept facing the white wall as tears began to flow as Mercer continued to talk.

"Clearly something is wrong. We have to talk." He shakes his shoulder.

Trent nudged him off of his shoulder. "No, we don't. Now please leave me alone. I just wanna sleep."

Anton looks at the black clock by the bedside and checked for his forehead. "Trent, it's noon."

"So?"

"So…we still have to talk about it. Even if you don't want to."

Trent finally got up and rubbed his red eyes.

"Okay. My parents are gone, my best friend's gone and now, I have no one."

Anton placed his hand on his shoulder. "It'll be okay. I promise." His phone vibrates and asks him.

"I got to take this. Anyway, you want anything to eat right now? You have any food allergies I should know about?"

"Thanks, but no thanks. And I'm allergic to coconuts."

"Okay." He gets up and leaves Trent to be.

He steps into his home office and personal study and took his call. He told the person who called him to call him back later.

After the call, he takes a quick peak inside Trent's room and finds him fast asleep. A small sigh escapes him and goes back into his office to make an important call.

"Hello, I would like to speak to the head of Child's Services."

I'm giving some credit to Aethelgythe in my story


	4. The Big Surprise

The Big Surprise

Over the next few days, Trent was starting to feel a little bit better, despite everything that happened to him.

He finally decides to get himself out of bed and into some of his old favorite activities, like drawings.

He had drawings from cartoon and cartoon characters to his late parents, which he had, but prefers not to look at them.

As he stopped drawing, he looked at the clock and it was four thirty. He gets up, takes a long shower, and into some fresh clothes: a white polo shirt, black pants and white sneakers.

He steps out of the bedroom and quietly into the hallway. He takes a quick peek inside Mercer's private study room and he wasn't there. He walks down the stairs and takes a peek into the luxurious great room.

There was Mercer and two other people. One was a tall guy with brown hair and fair skin, in a grey suit and loafers and a pregnant woman with black hair and olive skin, in a white dress and flats.

As he was getting a closer peek, he accidentally falls, where the adults saw him from the entrance.

"Oh, there he is." The lady notices Trent on the floor. "Is this him, Anton?"

"That's him." Trent collects himself right back up. "Trent, I'll like you to meet Dr. and Mrs. Carter."

"Hi." He shyly said.

"Hi. You look so adorable." Mrs. Carter compliment.

"Thanks."

"Well, Anton," Dr. Carter said. "Are you going to tell him?"

Trent had a puzzled look on his face. "Tell me what?"

"I'll tell you, Trent. Anton wants to adopt you."

"Adopt me? Me?" "Well, obliviously, you don't have any other family around, I wouldn't mind taking care of you and I called Child Services a few days ago and the papers for the adoption have been approve."

Trent was overwhelmed: his stomach was in major knots, was feeling a little tense and his heart was pounding.

"Really?"

"Really." Anton exclaimed.

Trent's mind went completely blank.

"Uh…may I…please be excused?"

"Sure."

Trent quickly ran upstairs and into his bedroom. He kicks off his sneakers, and lays down on his bed. He felt tears coming from his face and quickly put his face into the pillow and cried his soul out.

He starts to get all his questions and thoughts into his head: Does he really want Anton Mercer as his new father? Why did his parents have to die?

He just didn't want to do as Anton Mercer would be adopting him and will be his new adopted son.

Someone knocks on his door and quickly weeps away his tears. The person takes a peek through the door.

"Trent?" "Mrs. Carter? What are you doing here?"

Mrs. Carter closed the door behind her. "I noticed that you didn't look excited when you hear that Anton was planning on adopting you."

Trent had his chin on his knees and his arms were folded. "I know, but…"

"Trent, I know it's nerve-wrecking, but Anton will be a great father. Just put your trust into him. Okay?"

Trent gave her a small smile as she gave him a hug. "If you ever want to talk to me about anything, call me." She gives him a piece of paper with her number. "Good luck, camper. Bye." She leaves the bedroom.

"Bye."

PS I'm giving Aethelgythe some credit


	5. Where's Trent?

Where's Trent?

A couple days have passed and Anton was excited about the adoption paper being approved, went out into the town and brought Trent some new clothes to meet the head of Child Services in two weeks.

He walks up the stairs and knocks on his door.

"Trent? I got another surprise for you."

He didn't answer the door.

"Trent?" He knocks again. Still no answer.

Curious, he opens the door and sees that Trent wasn't in the room. Worried, he drops the bags of clothes and rapidly searched the entire estate and Trent still wasn't in any part.

Overwhelmed with weary, he calmly sits on the couch in the great room. He gets his phone out of his pocket and called Mrs. Carter.

"Hey, Stella. Have you seen Trent? I've looked everywhere for him in the house." "Oh, he's actually with me."

"What?" Anton started to get bit anger, but stayed calm.

"Gary's at work and Trent had no one to talk or be with him, so I took him out."

"Where are you two now?"

"Le Royal restaurant, so calm down. Bye."

Anton closes his phone and had to get to Le Royal restaurant as fast as he could.

PS I'm giving Aethelgythe some credit


	6. The Big Scare

The Big Scare

It was noon and a bright and sunny day in town. Trent, in a white shirt with his black sweatshirt with a hoodie, khaki pants and sneakers was enjoying his time with Mrs. Carter.

Mrs. Carter had on her black maxi dress and sandals. She also, was enjoying her day with Trent as they talk together and had lunch.

"Thanks for taking me out for lunch." "Anytime, Trent."

Trent now, was starting to feel worried himself, as he knew if Anton found out was missing.

"Do you think he'll be upset if I left the house without his permission?"

"You left without his permission?" She asked. "First of all, that has to be…" "The craziest thing you have every done!" A voice out of nowhere said. Trent looked up and it was Anton Mercer. And he didn't seem pleasant.

"Hi."

"Hi? Is that all you have to say to me? Hi? I looked all over the house for you. You had me worry sick."

Mrs. Carter had her hand on her face and said,

"Anton, will you please stop? The boy safe and sound, so please calm down."

As Trent sat there quietly and ate a small dessert, Anton kept on going.

"Yes, but still, he should have waited until I got home or at least tell that he was going to be out of the house."

Soon after awhile, Trent started to feel a little lightheaded and looked as if he was going to pass out.

"Oh my god. Trent," Mrs. Carter's started to noticed. "Are you feeling okay?"

He nods his head no. Anton started to feel his forehead and looked worried and Mrs. Carter's looked at the dessert as Trent started to have a struggled to talk.

"Was it the dessert? Are you allergic to anything?"

Trent started to sweat. "Just coconuts."

Mrs. Carter's got up from her seat and asked someone,

"Excuse me, where's the nearest hospital?"

The lady points out to the left, "It's just a few minutes away, that way."

"Anton, get him to the hospital. Right now!"

Anton picks him up from his seat, puts his sweatshirt hoodie over him, and rushes him to the hospital. Trent was now started to have trouble breathing, but he told him he'll be okay and to hang on.

When he manages to get him to the hospital, Mrs. Carter was sitting on the waiting room.

"Excuse me. He had an allergy reaction to coconuts and he's having trouble breathing."

The hospital staff acted quickly. They took Trent from his arms and placed him on a gurney. The doctor said to Trent,

"Son, open your mouth. Keep it open." He checks his mouth. "The patient's having an anaphylaxis attack. We have to prepare for treatment, ASAP."

Anton tried to be with him, but was stopped by the nurses and doctors.

"Trent! Trent!"

"Don't worry. He'll be okay. He will." Mrs. Carter said to him. They could only hope that Trent will be okay.

PS I'm giving Aethelgythe some credit


	7. Another Big Surprise

Another big surprise.

Anton and Mrs. Carter were waiting patiently for Trent. Dr. Carter quickly rushes into the lobby with a luxurious gift basket in his hand.

"I heard about what happened. Is he going to be okay?"

"We don't know," Mrs. Carter said, feeling guilty about it. "If I haven't took him out…"

The guys didn't want her to feel guilty about everything. "Don't blame yourself."

A nurse walks in with a clipboard in her hand.

"Excuse me. Is anyone with…Trent Fernandez?" Anton gets up. "I'm his temporarily guardian." "He's going to be okay. He's responding to the treatment very well. To make sure this doesn't happen again, you're sending you a medical case."

They all sighed in relief. "Thank you. Thank you so much."

"You were very lucky." "Can we see him?" Mrs. Carter asked.

"Of course."

They showed him to the room where Trent, who was looking peacefully, was in and they see someone in the room with him.

"Excuse me. Where are you?" Dr. Carter asked.

"Oh, I'm Karen Daniels, Mauricio's half-sister."

"Mauricio never told me he had a sister."

Mrs. Carter curiously asked Trent. "Trent, did you know about it?" "To be honest, no. I didn't think I had she was alive."

"And I will be having _full_ custody of Trent."

Anton, Dr and Mrs. Carter were all shocked. "What? But Anton was planning on adopting Trent."

Karen shrugged her shoulders and smirk. "Well, not anymore. And besides, I'm Trent's only _real_ family he has left. And don't bother to call Child's Services. I already did and they've agreed to let me Trent stay with me. And besides, what makes you think that Trent wants to be adopted by someone he just met?"

Mrs. Carter had the nerve and guts stands up to her. "That's where you're wrong, Kar-en. He will be a great father. He will be. Someone who's going to be there for him, no matter what happens."

"Charming."

"Well, he will be staying here overnight, so I guess he can get some of his stuff tomorrow."

"Lovely."

Before they left the room, Anton said to her,

"Remember this, Karen. Any guy can father a kid and any woman can give birth to one, but for me, it takes someone special to be a father or a mother. Just because someone's not blood, doesn't mean that they can't love you or care for you like family. Doesn't matter if they have birth to you are not. Being there for you makes them parents, even a family."

"Cute speeches and lectures, Dr. Phil and Oprah." She gives them a smirk. "And besides, I think I would know my own nephew."

Anton gave her a look. "Really? What's his favorite activity that he can do for hours?"

"I don't know." "Drawing. His birthday and year he was born? August 23rd and 1986. Favorite holiday? Christmas. I know a lot more about Trent than you will ever know. But, fine. I guess we'll be going"

They all left the room and Dr. Carter placed the basket by Trent's bed and Anton back sat down, feeling depressed.

PS I'm giving Aethelgythe some credit


	8. Wave Goodbye

Wave Goodbye

A day after Trent was released for his anaphylaxis attack, he went back to Mercer's mansion to get some of his things, so that he can live with his aunt at her house, and it was two in the afternoon. But has left some things, in case he wanted to stay with him.

His aunt Karen was waiting for him in her black Saturn jeep outside.

Trent grabs some of his clothes in a duffel bag and walks downstairs. Anton waits for him in the great room and said to him,

"Trent, if you want to stay here, you can come back anytime, okay?"

"Okay." Trent nods his head and gives him a hug. His aunt keeps honks the horn, telling him it's time to go. Anton walks with him to the car and opens the backseat door for him. Trent buckles himself and placed his bag by side.

His aunt begins to drive off slowly and Trent waves goodbye to him.

Anton, with his hand in his pocket, also waves goodbye.

In their heads, the hardest thing to do is to say or even wave goodbye.

PS I'm giving Aethelgythe some credit


	9. I'll Be There

I'll Be There.

Later that day, it was eight thirty at night and Anton was in his black sleepwear, robe and slippers was reading a book in the great room with a hot cup of chamomile tea. He stopped reading for the act that Trent wasn't here anymore. To get over the depressing moment, he walks into his master bedroom to get some sleep, but dismissed the fact that someone was banging on the door.

_I wonder who that could be._ He thought.

He opens the door and it was,

"Trent!"

He see a staggered Trent with scars and bruises on his body and some on his face, his white shirt and black pants were ripped and torn and with his duffel bag on him, groaning and moaning in pain. Anton picks him up and carefully places him on the couch.

"Who did this to you?" "My Aunt Karen and her boyfriend."

"They did this to you?"

Trent nods his head. Anton asked what happened.

"After we got there, her boyfriend got drunk and he got her drunk too, and I was trying to sleep, so they came into my bedroom, grabbed me, slammed me into a wall and kept on hitting me until they went to sleep, so I grabbed my bag and left. Take a look at them."

Anton carefully lifts up Trent's shirt and sees bruises on his stomach and a small one on his back. He was mortified by it.

"Oh my god." He accidentally touches them.

"Ow! Please stop. Everything hurts."

"I'm calling the police." He grabs his cell phone and calls the police. While he does that, he goes into the kitchen and gets Trent something to drink.

It was almost a quarter to nine and the police was about to leave Mercer's estate. The police officer says to him,

"Okay. We have everything that we need. We will apprehend them and make sure that they don't come anywhere near the boy ever again. And we'll contact Child's Service to notify the situation."

Anton sighed in relief. "Thank you, Officer Smith. Have a good night."

"Good night." The officer leaf in his police car and Anton goes back into the house. Once he got into the house, he goes made sure the security system was up and went up to Trent's room and tried to apply the alcohol on his wounds.

"Ow! Ow, ow, ow! That stings!"

"Alright, calm down. Let's try the ice." He offers the ice and Trent graciously agreed to it.

"Thank you." He lays it on his chest and on his head.

Anton sighed. "I can't believe that they did this to you."

"I can." He inhaled in pain. "Sorry." "About what?"

"About everything. If I haven't ran off without your permission when you were gone, then none of this would have happen." Trent wipes the tears from his eyes.

Anton sat on the edge of the bed before he could continue. "Don't blame yourself by what's happening."

"I know, but I just feel so guilty." Trent's head started to ache and throbbed as he puts his hand on it. "Can I go to sleep, please? My head's starting to hurt."

"Okay."

Anton was aware of Trent's pain and tragedy that he went through; from the deadly cave-in that took his parents' lives to the recent abuse that he suffered from his own aunt and boyfriend. The best thing for now was for Trent to get some sleep.

"Good night."

"Night."


	10. The Nightmare

The Nightmare

It was eleven at night and Trent and Anton were both sound asleep. As Mercer was sleeping peacefully, Trent kept tossing and turning in his sleep, as if he was trying to escape from somewhere.

Trent's dream.

Trent's surroundings were just a typical suburban living room: cream colors, nice furniture, a big-screen television and some flowers and plants.

"Hello? Where am I?"

But a stranger quickly grabs Trent's arm and viciously pulls him into a room with very little light. Trent grunts as he lands on the floor. The stranger locks the door.

"Who are you?"

"Me?" The person turned around and it was his Aunt Karen. "I'm your worst nightmare."

"No." Trent slowly backs away.

"And so am I." Her boyfriend pops out of nowhere.

"If I can't have you, no one can, not even Anton Mercer!"

"No!" He begins to scream at the top of his lungs as he runs to the door to try to unlock it, but no luck.

His Aunt Karen's boyfriend grabs him and slams him hard onto the rocky bed. His Aunt Karen was starting to try to force herself on him as she rips his clothes off of him. She started to breath on him sexually. Her boyfriend could only watch as enjoyment.

"No! Stop it! Please!" He nearly burst into tears and screamed louder than ever. "Please! Somebody help me!"

He woke up from his nightmare after he was being shaking by Mercer and bolted into his arms, who was probably in the room after he must have heard Trent screaming.

"Trent, calm down. It's okay. It's alright." Trent breathing heavily and started to feel sweat all over. He let of a big sigh of relief.

"Let me guess, nightmare?"

Too horrified and terrified to even answer it, he just nodded his head. He feels Trent's forehead and neck.

"I'll be right back."

Anton runs out of the room for a few minutes while Trent holds onto the covers very tightly. He comes back with a hot cup in his hand.

"Drink this. It'll help you get back to sleep."

Trent drinks it all and hands it back to him.

"Thank you." Trent began to shake uncontrollably.

"I just can't deal with this anymore. I just can't."

"I know. No one can, Trent. I'll make an appointment to see someone, okay?"

"That's fine." He mumbled as he lays his head on Mercer's chest as he tried to go back to sleep.

It was thirty minutes till midnight and Anton stayed with Trent until he went back to sleep. He sees a picture of Trent's late parents, Mauricio and Isabella, smiling in a small gold picture frame. He puts the picture on Trent's pillow to make sure he wasn't going to having anymore nightmares.

He quietly leaves and wished him the best of dreams.

PS I'm giving Aethelgythe some credit


	11. Sweet Dreams

The Sweet Dream.

After Trent went back to sleep, Anton went back to his master bedroom to get some sleep.

Trent's dream.

Trent's surroundings were a utopian kingdom: the sky was bright, the birds were chirping, beautiful grasslands, clean blue lakes, white doves and swans and a beautiful white castle. He was breath taken by it.

"Wow." He exclaimed. "Where am I?"

"You're in heaven, son." A manly voice out of nowhere said. Trent turned around and there was no one.

"Who's there? Come out, so I can see you."

A womanly voice giggles. "Baby boy, you always did had those strange dreams."

"Mama?" Trent turns and it was his mother, in a white dress and a tiara in her raven black hair. His mother grinned like there was no tomorrow. "Mama! It is you." He runs up and hugs her.

"What about your old man?" His father was in a white robe and a crown in his black hair.

"Dad!" He runs to him and hugs him.

"So, I'm really in heaven?"

His parents nodded their heads. Trent had his head down.

"What's wrong, honey?" His mother asked.

Tears came down his face as he slowly began to breakdown. "Why did you have to leave me? And let all this bad things happen to me?" He covers his face as his father comfort him.

"We didn't think that we leave forever."

"And, dad. Why didn't you tell me that you had a sister?" "I had a good reason. Karen is a horrible person. She wasn't always like this. She hung around with bad people after her mother died. If anything happened to us, I didn't want her to have custody of you. I wanted Anton Mercer to."

"Well, he's planning on adopting me."

His mother gasped. "Really? That's great."

"How?"

"Because we asked him if anything happened to us, he would look after you. And he's seems to be doing a great job with that. We know that you don't want him to replace us, but no matter what, we will always look after you."

"Really?"

"Really." His mother smiles, walks up to Trent and gives him a kiss on his forehead and his father gives him a hug. His parents spread their white wings and flew back into the sky and Trent could only watch his parents with a smile on his face.

Back into reality.

Trent quietly wakes up and sees a picture of his parents on his pillow. He realizes that Anton must have put that there to keep him from not having anymore nightmares. He smiles,

"Thank you."

Trent lets out a big yawn and goes back to sleep.

PS I'm giving Aethelgythe some credit


	12. No Need to Worry

**Here it is! One of the final chapters of the story!**

**Sorry if I'm behind!**

**Please review anytime! All reviews are appreciated**

Time has passed and Trent's nightmares have slightly stopped, thanks to Anton Mercer, who helps him go through the events that happened to him.

The nightmares were released with sweet dreams of Trent visiting and playing with his parents in heaven.

It was the day of the adoption meeting, meaning that the head of Child's Service is coming by the house and see if the adoption of Trent can be approved or not. It was a few minutes to noon and a perfect day outside.

In the clothes that Anton graciously bought for him for the adoption meeting was a long-sleeve black-and-white argyle sweater, black dress pants and black loafers.

Trent was sitting on his bed, drawing in his sketchbook, waiting for the head of Child's Service to arrive.

Someone knocks on his bedroom door and it was Anton Mercer.

"Trent?" He comes in, wearing a black suit and tie and black shoes.

Trent puts his sketchbook under his pillow. "Yeah?"

He slowly walks in, sits on the edge of the bed next to him and asked him,

"Are you feeling okay?"

Trent folded his arms and looked down at the bed covers as he didn't respond.

"I know that you're probably nervous scared about this own adoption thing."

He still didn't answer him.

"Come on, Trent. At least look at me." He gently places his hand on Trent's chin, making him look directly at him, face to face, but his eyes didn't meet his.

"Look, Trent. I may not be your birth father, but I want to love you and care you like my own son. I mean, this is what your parents would want: me adopting you."

Trent finally met his eyes to Mercer.

"I'm just scared, that's all." Trent softly whispers.

"There's nothing to be scared about. I will promise you that." He gives him a small smile.

After Anton hear knocking on the front door, he gets off of Trent's bed and asked him,

"So, are you ready?"

Trent was feeling relentlessly scared about it, but with Anton Mercer's help, he follows him downstairs to meet with the head of Child's Service.

A few hours have passed, and the head of Child's Service, Estella Allen, who was dressed in a simple black suit and pumps, had her rimless eyeglass on and looking around the house.

She goes back into the living room, where Trent and Anton were at while she was looking around, sits on the sofa.

She takes out her pen, her black notebook and was ready to take some notes.

"Okay. The house is quite lovely, I must say _and_ in perfect shape, everything seems to be okay. Now, all I have to do is ask Trent just some simple questions, write them down in my notes and then when I'm done, I can take them over to the judge. Are you okay with me doing that, Trent?"

Trent shrugged his shoulders and quietly said,

"Sure."

"Do you like it here?"

"It's quite nice."

"Will you feel comfortable staying here and living with Dr. Anton Mercer?"

"Yes, ma'am. I'll be comfortable living with him."

She writes it down in her notebook.

"Well, I got everything I need here. I'll take these back to the judge and we'll contact you soon for the adoption being finalized. I will see the both of you at the courthouse."

Ms. Allen gets up from the sofa as Mercer does to, for a friendly handshake.

"Okay. Pleasure meeting you."

He escorts her out of the living room and to the door as she grabs her dark leather suitcase on her way out.

After he closed and locks the front door, Anton walks back into the living room and sees that Trent was not there any more.

_Where could he be?_ He thought.

_SLAM!_

He takes a major hint that Trent went up to his room while he was showing Ms. Allen out of the house. He thought about going up to talk to him, but decides to leave him alone for a while before going up.

PS. I'm givin' some credit Aethelgythe


	13. Memories

**This is the second to last chapter of the story!**

**Please review anytime!**

Hours after Ms. Allen, the head of Child's Services left, Trent has been in his room crying into his pillow, which felt like a long time, feeling lonely and still scared about the adoption deal.

He knows that his parents want Anton Mercer to adopt him and take care of him, but still felt like he wasn't ready to let go of it.

He changed out of his clothes and into his black tee and black and white checkered pajama pants.

He didn't care if Anton could hear or even see him cry; he felt that he had every right to cry about the adoption.

Someone knocked on his door and it was Anton Mercer, who walked into the room with a clean white plate with a toasted Italian BLT sandwich on wheat bread and a glass of ice-cold milk in his hand. He walks over to his bedside, puts the plate of food on the nightstand and gently shakes his shoulder.

"Trent…?"

"Huh?"

"Trent. You okay?"

Trent realized that Anton gently shaking him.

"No. Now just leave me alone, please." He nudges his hand off.

A sigh heavily escapes him as he sat down on the bed next to him.

"Come on, Trent. Are you still scared about the adoption?"

"I don't want to talk about it; I just want to be alone." He clutched onto his pillow as he faced the wall.

He was aware of Trent still being scared about the adoption deal, so he quickly found a way to make him feel a little bit better.

"Well, I have to show you something I want to show you; I'll be right back."

He walks out of the bedroom for a quick second, leaving Trent to feel confused. A whole bunch of questions was going through his head, but did not want to think about it.

When he comes back, he comes back with a small black box in one hand and a album book in his other hand. Curious, he asked him,

"What up with the box and album book?"

Anton puts the album book to the side and gives Trent the box in his hands.

"Take a look inside."

He opens it and inside was a platinum chain with four rings on it.

"What are these?"

"These…were your parents' rings."

Trent's brown eyes popped out of his head. These rings belonged to his late parents. In addition, they were so stunningly beautiful to look at.

The cut of the diamonds was sensational and the quality of the white gold was heavenly. Trent was stunned by the rings and saw the calligraphy engraving that said:

Forever Isabella Valentina and Mauricio Rolando Fernandez.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I helped pick them with your father."

As he talking to Trent, Anton points out each set of rings that belonged to his parents. He points out the 24-karat white gold diamond engagement rings.

"When your father wanted to proposed to your mother, I suggested that he pick out those out and your mother was overwhelmed with joy when he proposed to him."

"Really?" His face lit up a bit.

"Yep," He then points out the 24-karat white gold diamond wedding rings. "I helped your dad pick the bands for the wedding." He opens up the album book and turns to the wedding of his parents.

His father and Mercer in black tuxedos and his mother with her hair in a French twist hairstyle, diamond necklace, dangling earrings and bracelets and her dress was a slik strapless gown with a nude/gold-color ornately embroidered bodice and a tiara and veil in her hair and was holding a bouquet of white roses.

The setting of the wedding looks like a tropical place with beauitful flowers, palm trees, the greenest grass and the clear crystal-blue ocean.

He asked Anton why he has the rings.

"They do it every time before we go in a cave for a dig. But before they untimely died in that cave-in a few weeks ago, they took it off, gave them to me in my hand and said, 'If anything were to happen to us, we want you to take these rings and give it to our son and take care of him like your own.'"

Trent felt tear stings coming though his eyes. Anton turns to the next page of the book and inside were countless photos of his late parents and Anton himself, even when they were kids.

"You knew each other when you were kids?"

"Yep. We grew up in the same neighborhood, went to school and college together."

Trent flips to the next page and see photos and with the words: Trent's birth day and sees his parents, Mercer, a newborn Trent and a copy of his birth certificate.

"You were there when I was born?"

He snickers to himself. "Oh, yeah. They were so happy when uh…" Anton stopped there when he did not know how to tell Trent the rest of the story until they would have 'the talk.'

"Never mind. Anyway, coming up with names, it almost fifteen minutes. Your mother wanted to name you Antonio Lorenzo and Emilio Manolo and your father wanted to name you Fernando Hernándo and Bernardo Armando."

Trent's face turned puzzled. In his head, he thought,

_Antonio Lorenzo Fernandez? __Emilio Manolo Fernandez? Fernando Hernándo Fernandez? Bernardo Armando Fernandez? Either my parents wanted me to be in touch with the culture or they were just really bad at picking names._

"But then, they both came up with Trent Michael and I agreed."

He keeps on flipping to other pages and sees photos from Christmas, birthday parties and more random photos of him, Mercer and his parents; more photos that he never seen before.

"Wow."

Trent smiled, but felt the tears coming down from his eyes and did not seem to care that Anton was seeing him crying. He gently pets his head and smiles to him.

"See, the point is… no matter what, I will love and care for you like my own son, as what your parents wanted me to. I don't think that they want their only child being handed over or be with a bunch of strangers for the rest of his youth life." He looks at the watch and it was close to a quarter to eight.

"I'll…uh… leave you alone for the night." He gets up and wished him good night.

"Night."

After he leaves, Trent lays down on his bed and started to rethink about Anton Mercer adopting him as he eating his sandwich Mercer made for him. Before, he was feeling scared and did not think that he would understand his situation.

After what his late parents said to him before their sudden deaths and the photo album he kept throughout all those years, Trent became more touched than ever.

Now, he wasn't even feeling scared about Anton Mercer adopting him; he actually felt thankful and blessed. And he was definitely right; his parents wouldn't want him being handed over to or be with a bunch of strangers for the rest of his life.


	14. Father and Son

**This is the final chapter of my story!**

A few days passed and Anton and Trent were at the courthouse, meaning that it was the day of the adoption being finalized.

Trent and Anton were waiting in a small room for the court session, waiting for the judge to finalize the adoption.

In the clothes, that Anton graciously bought for him for the adoption was a white button down oxford cloth long-sleeve shirt tucked into his black pants and black loafers and Anton was in his usual business suit.

In the room with them were Dr. and Mrs. Carter, who came for support. Anton noticed that Trent was fidgeting his seat, looking nervous and biting his lip, waiting for the judge.

"Trent, it'll be okay."

Despite his comforting words, Trent was nervous and started to have these strange and fearful thoughts going though in his head, thinking that what would happen if the adoption were not going to be approved.

He might be placed in a foster home or even an orphanage far away from him, be handed over to a bunch of strangers for the rest of his youth life and might never see or even talk to Anton Mercer and his friends ever again.

The head of Child's Services, Estella Allen, who just wanted in, was dressed in a black suit.

"The judge will see you now."

They all get up and followed Ms. Allen into the courtroom, where they see Judge Simmons, sitting in his chair, looking very serious with his rimless glasses.

Anton and Trent sat at a table with Ms. Allen, waiting for the judge to speak while Dr. and Mrs. Carter were watching them.

"Your Honor."

Judge Simmons gestured Anton, Trent and Ms. Allen to sit up while looks through a file. He closes the file and gives him a serious face. Trent was nervous about what the judge was about to say about the adoption. Negative thoughts were racing though his head again, but shook it to let in the positive thoughts.

"Well, I have to say, Dr. Mercer, I was inquisitive about this. Especially with the kind of man you are; taking on and raising a child is a big responsible. Are you sure you are ready to take on that kind of responsible?"

"Yes, Your Honor."

He closes the files. "Well, going through these papers a few more times, the adoption for Trent Fernandez…" He starts to smile. "Has been approved."

Anton, Trent, Ms. Allen, Dr., and Mrs. Carter were overwhelmed with joy.

"Now, Dr. Mercer, please sign the adoption papers and certificate."

Anton signs the papers given to him and hands them back to the judge.

"Very well. Now remember, that young boy is now your son, Dr. Mercer. Trent Michael Fernandez is now Trent Michael Fernandez-Mercer, with Trent still keeping his original surname. You are dismissed. Have a good day." He bangs his gavel and left quietly.

After the adoption is legally approved, they walk out of the room, overwhelmed with joy. Trent gave his new father a hug for adopting him, which he graciously accepted. He was glad to be his new father.

After the celebration on Anton Mercer adopting Trent, they went back to the house and it was a quarter to nine. During the celebration, they went to go eat at a fancy restaurant and Anton noticed what Trent liked to eat besides a toasted Italian BLT on wheat bread.

As Mercer was working on some last minute stuff done for his company for the night, Trent was laying on with his head on his pillow and under the covers as he was watching television. His eyes were feeling drowsy, but tried to stay awake until late at night.

Someone knocks on his door and it was Mercer.

"Trent?" He walks in and sits on his bed.

"Yeah."

"You okay?"

"I'm okay." He let out a large yawn.

"Sleepy?"

He nods his head.

"Just a little."

"Alright, look. I know I'm new and adjusting to this whole parenting style, but I just want to get a few rules down."

"Okay." Trent was ready to fall asleep, but tried to pay attention.

"First, you can't leave the house without telling me where you're going to and see if I'll say yes or no, you can go to sleep at anytime you want during the summer time and weekends, but when school starts…"

Normally, he would have continued, but Trent was so sleepy, he accidentally falls asleep as he was talking.

A sigh escapes him. He tucks him into his bed, turns off his television for him and gentle pets his newly adoptive son's hair as he wishes him pleasant dreams before leaving his room.

Trent's dream

Trent's surroundings were a utopian kingdom: the sky was bright; the birds were chirping, beautiful grasslands, clean blue lakes, white doves, swans, and a beautiful white castle, the same place he saw and talked to his late parents.

Trent traveled around for a while until he sees his parents, dressed in pure white clothes and tiaras and crowns in their hair.

Their expressions grew into sadness when his mother broke down into tears and gave him a teary smile as his father did the same.

"Why are you guys crying?"

"Because we are glad that someone who we dearly love adopted you and took you in like his own son."

His mother walks up and kisses him on his forehead and his father gives him a hug.

"And remember son, we'll always be looking out for you."

His parents spread their white wings and flew back into the sky and Trent could only watch his parents with a smile on his face.

Anton Mercer took him and gave him what his parents wanted: a home and a life. Not a lot of people would do that.

And realizes that he needs someone like him in his life.

**PS: Sequel is now up and ready!**


End file.
